NASCAR Pull Wraps Off 2014 Cup Schedule

The spring Cup race at Kansas will move to May and be a night race. (RacinToday/HHP file photo by Alan Marler)

By Jim Pedley | Managing Editor
RacinToday.com

With the big move concerning the 2014 Sprint Cup schedule have already been made – Kansas Speedway and Darlington Raceway swap spring dates – Tuesday’s official unveiling of the calendar was pretty uneventful.

The only other change is to the spring date at Texas, which will be Sunday afternoon April 6 instead of its traditional Saturday night date.

The Chase for the Sprint Cup tracks remain the same, with the Chase beginning at Chicagoland and ending at Homestead.

NASCAR also announced that it would bring its “Air Titan” drying system to every track in 2014.

For the 13th consecutive year, the Cup Series schedule will consist of 36 points races as well as two additional weekends featuring non-points events. The Sprint Unlimited (Feb. 15) and two Daytona 500 qualifying races (both on Feb. 20) will take place before the season officially gets underway. The NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway will take place on May 17, broadcast on FOX Sports 1.

“This season has delivered plenty of drama and excitement, and we’re anticipating even more for our fans in 2014 now that the Gen-6 car has competed at every track,” said Steve O’Donnell, senior vice president of racing operations. “Having the Air Titan at each NASCAR Sprint Cup Series weekend allows us to meet a very important goal set by our Chairman and CEO, Brian France: to drastically decrease track-drying time to the best of our ability and ensure our fans in the stands and those watching on TV get to see each race on its scheduled day.”

During a media teleconference Tuesday morning, O’Donnell said that fans and competitors hoping for a reduction in the number of Cup races are probably not going to get what they want any time soon.

“I don’t think we’re interested in reducing the number of races we have,” O’Donnell said.

He also had bad news for those wanting to see more short track or road circuit races on the schedule, saying NASCAR is happy with the “balance” of venues on the schedule.

He also said that the Nationwide schedule for 2014 should be made public soon.

One Comment »

Who really cares, NASCAR just keeps driving off fans. Hell look at all the empty seats at this yeas chase races. It is well reported on the internet.

I will again next season boycott NASCAR and their sponsors.

I have watched exactly ZREO laps of the chases races this year. I watched only about 50 laps total of all the races before the chase this year. Maybe it is time sponsors reconsidered if their money really is being spent wisely in NASCAR when millions upon millions of fans are turning their back on NASCAR.